Below are the stories behind the top holiday classics of all time.

"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" Written by Donald Yetter Gardner in 1944 while teaching music at public schools in Smithtown, New York. Gardner asked his class what they wanted for Christmas, and noticed that almost all of them had at least one front tooth missing as they answered in a lisp. He then proceeded to write the song in 30 minutes. The song was originally recorded by Spike Jones and The City Slickers on December 6, 1948. That version reached the top of the charts in early 1949. The song has also been recorded by numerous other singers and performers, including George Strait, Danny Kaye, The Platters, The Andrews Sisters, Nat King Cole, The Chipmunks and the cast of Sesame Street.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" Written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and recorded for Carey's fifth album Merry Christmas (1994). It was released as the album's first single, reached the top ten in several non-U.S. countries, and is one of the most commercially successful Christmas singles of the modern era. It has been covered by Shania Twain, Samantha Mumba, My Chemical Romance, and The Cheetah Girls. By late 2006, it had become the best-selling holiday ring tone of all time in the U.S.

"Blue Christmas" Written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. The heart-broken tale of unrequited love during the holidays had long been considered a Christmas staple of country music, having been recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1948. In 1957, Elvis Presley effectively made "Blue Christmas" a steadfast rock-and-roll holiday classic by placing his indelible mark on the song. It has since been recorded by a host of rock and country artists alike, as well as those of other genres. More recently, the song has been covered by Céline Dion, the indie band Bright Eyes and Billy Idol.

"Christmas in Dixie" Originally released in 1982, the song is a celebration of Christmas in the southern United States and was included on Alabama's 1985 Christmas album (titled Alabama Christmas), and has since been included on many Christmas compilations in both the country and all-genre fields.

"The Christmas Shoes" Originally an internet legend, the Christmas-themed story was forwarded to a member of the Christian vocal group NewSong in 1996. They worked on the song for four years and eventually released it as a bonus track in 2000; it reached #31 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart that year.

"Christmas Time Is Here" The musical soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, by jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, has become as well-known as the story itself. A soundtrack album for the special was released by Fantasy Records and remains a perennial best-seller.

"Christmas Through your Eyes" Written by Gloria Estefan and Diane Warren, the single was included on the album of the same name by Estefan with other Christmas standards.

"December Will Be Magic Again" A between-album single by Kate Bush, released for the holiday season on 17th November 1980 and peaking at number 29 in the UK Singles Chart. In addition to the version on the single release, another version exists on CD. Neither have ever appeared on a Kate Bush album, except for the box set, but both managed to find their way on to Christmas compilations by 1989.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" In late 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired highlighting the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof had seen the report and was moved so much that he decided that a pop record should be used to further increase awareness of the famine and to raise money. Aware that he could do little on his own, he called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" It was released by Band Aid on November 29, 1984.

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" Written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne in 1962. It was originally recorded by Bing Crosby on Capitol Records on November 22, 1963 and released a week and a half later on a then-new Christmas album. Over the years, the song has been widely played on the radio. The original version has been available on numerous compilation Christmas albums and compact discs put out by Capitol Records.The song was later covered by many different artists.

"Feliz Navidad" Written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. With its simple Spanish language chorus (the traditional Christmas/New Year greeting, "Feliz navidad, prospero año y felicidad" or "prosperous year and happiness") and equally simple English verse ("I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart"), it has become a classic Christmas pop song in the USA and throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Various artists have covered "Feliz Navidad", including Boney M, Céline Dion, The Cheetah Girls, Jaci Velasquez and The Three Tenors, but any year, at Christmas time, the original José Feliciano version of "Feliz Navidad" is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the USA. It was also recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.

"Frosty the Snowman" Written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson and recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. Like Jingle Bells and several other songs about winter, Frosty the Snowman is considered to be a Christmas song despite not mentioning Christmas at all. It was written after Gene Autry recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and that single sold 2 million copies. Rollins and Nelson shipped the new song to Autry, who recorded "Frosty" in search of another seasonal hit. Like "Rudolph", "Frosty" was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special.

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" An African-American spiritual dating back to at least 1865 it is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyric celebrates the Nativity. In 1963, Peter Yarrow, Noel "Paul" Stookey, and Mary Travers, along with their musical director, Milt Okun, adapted and rewrote Go Tell It on the Mountain as Tell It on the Mountain, their lyrics referring specifically to Exodus and employing the line "Let my people go," but implicitly referring to the Civil Rights struggle of the early '60s. The song was recorded by Yarrow, Stookey and Travers on their Peter, Paul and Mary album In the Wind and was also a moderate hit single for them.

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the husband and wife duo of Elmo and Patsy Shropshire in 1979. Brooks offered Shropshire the rights to the song for $500, saying his own band wouldn't let him play it.In the lyrics, the grandmother of the family gets drunk from drinking too much eggnog and decides to return home to retrieve her forgotten medication. In the course of her walk, she is run over by a reindeer, and killed.

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" Originally created for the 1966 animated feature How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the lyrics were written by Dr. Seuss, the music was written by Albert Hague, and the lyrics were performed by Thurl Ravenscroft. Since then, it has been remade by several other artists.

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" Written by John Lennon with his wife Yoko Ono. Recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York City in late October of 1971, with the help of producer Phil Spector, it features soaring, heavily echoed vocals, and a sing-along chorus. The children singing in the background were from the Harlem Community Choir and are credited on the song's single. Although the song is a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas albums.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis," a movie which chronicles the change in seasons and times of St. Louis. In the famous scene, Garland sings the tearful tune to child star Margaret O'Brien. The melancholy tune and lyrics were originally even more somber but were adapted by the song writers to the current version at Garland's request.

"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" Music written by Robert Allen, lyrics by Al Stillman. The best-known recordings were made by Perry Como, who recorded the song twice, in 1954 and in 1959. The first recording, done on November 16, 1954, was released as a single for Christmas by RCA. The flip side was "Silk Stockings" and it reached #8 on the Billboard magazine charts in the United States. The next Christmas it was released again, with "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" as the flip side.

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) wrote "Christmas Bells" on Christmas day 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War and the news of his son Charles Appleton Longfellow having suffered wounds as a soldier in battle. He had suffered the great loss of his wife two years prior to an accidental fire. The poem has been set to several tunes. Johnny Marks, known for his song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, set Longfellow’s poem to music in the 1950's which has been recorded by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Kate Smith, Frank Sinatra, Sarah McLachlan, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash and Bing Crosby.

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" A single by Jimmy Boyd which reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1952, and on the Cash Box magazine chart at the beginning of the following year. Other versions of the song were recorded through the years by the likes of The Jackson Five, John Mellencamp, (the most played rendition on radio formats), Jessica Simpson, and Twisted Sister.

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" Written by Walter Kent in 1943. A song titled "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was also copyrighted in1943 by Kent (music) and James "Kim" Gannon (words). The two revised and re-copyrighted their song on Sep. 27, 1943, and it was this version that was made famous by Bing Crosby, shooting to the top ten of the record charts that year becoming a holiday musical tradition in the United States.

"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" Written by Meredith Willson in 1951. The song has been recording by many artists but was a hit by Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters with Michell Ayres & his Orch. in 1951. In 1971, Johnny Mathis recorded the song for his second Christmas album. This version was not heard often until it was featured on the movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Gradually, the song began to receive wide radio airplay. For the past several years this version has become a Top 10 Christmas hit. Today Johnny Mathis' version is the most widely played version of this song.

"Jingle Bell Rock" Written by Joe Beal & Jim Boothe and first released by Bobby Helms in 1957. Jingle Bell Rock has received frequent airplay during every Christmas time since then going on to sell 100 million copies. Although performed by many other artists, Helms' version is the best-known. Its title and some of its lyrics are takeoffs on the old Christmas standard, "Jingle Bells". It also makes brief references to other popular songs of the 1950s, such as "Rock Around the Clock", and mentions going to a "Jingle hop".

"Jingle Bells" Originally "One Horse Open Sleigh", is one of the best known and commonly sung secular Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) in 1857 or earlier. The song has been translated into many languages. Various stories of the song's origins give the place of composition as Savannah, Georgia, Boston or Medford, Massachusetts. An oft-repeated story is that he wrote it to be sung at a Thanksgiving program at his church in Savannah or Boston, but because of its instant popularity, it was sung again at the Christmas program. The copyright was granted in 1857, when Pierpont was serving as the organist for a Unitarian congregation in Savannah.When it was originally published in 1857, Pierpont's song had a different chorus melody, which was more classical, even Mozart-like. The 1857 lyrics differed slightly from those we know today. It is unknown who replaced the chorus melody and the words with those of the modern version.

"Last Christmas" Written by George Michael, and released by the British pop duo Wham! on Epic Records in 1984 on a double A-side with "Everything She Wants". The single sold well over a million copies and became the biggest selling single in UK chart history not to reach #1. Wham! donated all of their "Last Christmas/Everything She Wants" royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal popularized by Band Aid.

"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (sometimes also known as "Let It Snow"), written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in 1945 and first recorded by Vaughn Monroe, became a huge popular hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard music chart the following year. Due to its seasonal lyrics, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" is commonly regarded as a Christmas song. Yet despite its cheery, holiday feel, it is a love song that never mentions Christmas. One of the best-selling songs of all time, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" has been covered countless times, with recordings by such widely varied artists.

"Mele Kalikimaka" In the Hawaiian language, Mele Kalikimaka is the translation of "Merry Christmas", and is used as such around Christmastime in Hawaii. The song "Mele Kalikimaka" was penned by Robert Anderson. One of the earliest recordings of this song was by Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters in 1950 on Decca however since then it has been covered by several artists.

"Merry Christmas Darling" Written by Richard Carpenter & Frank Pooler and originally recorded by the Carpenters in 1970. The single went to #1 on Billboard's Christmas singles chart in 1970, and did again in 1971 and 1973. In 1978, The Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new recording of "Merry Christmas Darling".

"My Only Wish (This Year)" Recorded by Britney Spears, this song received very positive reviews, and is currently featured on Now That's What I Call Christmas!, Platinum Christmas, and Ultimate Christmas 2. Even though the song was released to the radio, no video was ever recorded. In December of 2006, Britney fans on http://www.breatheheavy.com organized a campaign titled "My Only Wish This Year". where fans were to purchase the single from iTunes, one or multiple times. The goal of the project was to propel the song into the Top 10 chart, "where Britney belongs". The project didn't get the results intended but it did get the song in the top 30.

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958 on Decca. Although Decca released it in both 1958 and again in 1959, it did not sell well until Lee became a popular star in 1960; that Christmas season, it hit #16 on the Billboard pop chart and turned into a perennial holiday favorite. It continued to sell well during the holiday season for the next 24 years, hitting #5 on the Xmas chart in 1984.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" The character Rudolph was created by Robert L. May in 1939 as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward. Johnny Marks, May's brother-in-law, decided to adapt May's story into a song, which through the years has been recorded by many artists, most notably by Gene Autry in 1949, and has since been further popularized by the animated television show and movie adaptations.

"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and over 400,000 copies sold by Christmas. The original version of it was recorded on September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra.

"Silver Bells", Composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, Silver Bells was introduced by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in a motion picture called The Lemon Drop Kid in 1951. The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby. The lyrics are unusual for a Christmas song in that they describe the holiday in the city, and not a rural setting.

"Sleigh Ride" Written by Leroy Anderson on, ironically, a hot summer day in 1948; lyrics were written later by Mitchell Parish. It was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops Orchestra and was a hit record on RCA Victor. This original monaural version has never been available on CD, although the later 1959 re-recording is available in stereo.

"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" Written by Ross Bagdasarian (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958. Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian (in the form of a chipmunk voice), the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictional singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" Written in 1944 by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song, early in 1946; at Cole's behest, and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records, a second recording was made the same year utilizing a small string section. This version became a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole re-recorded the song in 1953 and again in 1961, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra; the latter recording is regarded by many as definitive and receives heavy radio airplay each Christmas season.

"White Christmas" In May 1940, Irving Berlin signed an exclusive contract for Paramount Pictures to write songs for a film musical, Holiday Inn, based on his idea of an inn that opened only on public holidays. He found that writing a song about Christmas was the most challenging. When Bing Crosby first heard Berlin play "White Christmas" in 1941 at the first rehearsals, he reassured Berlin that he had created a winner. Crosby's recording went on to become a huge hit and still stands today as the definitive version.

"Winter Wonderland" Written in 1934 by Felix Bernard (composer) and Richard B. Smith (lyricist). Smith, a native of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was reportedly inspired to write the song after seeing Honesdale's Central Park covered in snow. Due to its seasonal theme, "Winter Wonderland" is often regarded as a Christmas song on the Northern Hemisphere, although the holiday itself is never mentioned in the lyrics. The original recording was by Richard Himber and his Hotel Carelton Orchestra when at the end of a recording session where there was time to spare, it was suggested that this new tune be tried. It has been recorded many different times by such artists as Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Karen Carpenter, Cyndi Lauper, and the Cocteau Twins.

"Wonderful Christmastime", A 1979 song written and recorded by Paul McCartney after fellow ex-Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison had already released Christmas songs. The song enjoys significant Christmastime popularity in the UK and the US and was later added as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Wings' Back to the Egg. Of all of the former Beatle seasonal offerings, Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" and McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" have become two of a large number of popular Christmas songs played year after year.

(courtesy of Wikipedia)